A Few Beautiful Things
by Penstrokes of Death
Summary: Fluffy one-shots without plot. A few of the little things in life that Starkiller never got to experience before Juno showed him. JunoxGalen


_Disclaimer: I wish, man._

 **Warmth:**

He was almost always cold. The rooms where he trained were cold, the ship was typically cold, space had been so cold it took the heat of a sun just to bring him back, PROXY was cold, the torn sleeves of his shirt made his arms cold, the vats on Kamino had been cold. And if he wasn't cold, in those rare moments, he'd be burning up like a fire was burning in his bones. Lightsaber burns, blaster burns, acid burns; they were the only heat in his life.

Except for her. He'd used to think she would be cold too, but she was warm. When he touched her shoulder there was just enough heat to prove she was well and alive but not enough to hurt. It wasn't just her skin that was warm, either, it was everything about her. She had a warm smile, she drank warm caf, she once draped a blanket over him while he slept in the cockpit because she wanted him to be warm too. He'd never been warm before. The change was nice.

 **Cookies:**

"What's that smell?"

Juno tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at him as she sat a metal tray on the table, "I'm baking."

He had no idea what that meant, only that she was distantly upset about something and that whatever 'baking' was, it smelled wonderful. Unwilling to admit his ignorance, he chose instead to try to find out what was wrong with her. Sliding into a chair across from where she stood, he mulled over where to start.

"Why?" That was always the best place, in his somewhat limited experience with interrogation.

"Why what?"

"Why are you… baking?"

"Oh." The pilot sighed, "Today's the anniversary of the day Mum died. This is something we did together when I was little. It makes her feel a little closer, know what I mean?"

"No." All he had was a vague recollection of a father, and no memory of his mother, but he did like the wistful smile on her face.

"Sorry." Because he never stopped her, she continued, "She thought it was ridiculous that people didn't learn to cook anymore. This is the first time in several years I've actually gotten to do this."

"They smell amazing."

"Thank you. You can't get homemade chocolate chip cookies just anywhere, you know."

Oh, so these were cookies. They looked pretty good: round, brown, and he guessed that those were chocolate chips stuck in them. He'd heard about chocolate before, but couldn't remember ever actually trying it.

"Galen."

"Huh?" His eyes snapped up to her face.

"You're drooling."

"I-" There was a chance she was joking, but he rubbed his mouth anyway.

"You can have one, you know."

It makes him uncomfortable when people offer him things; the only times Vader had done so were parts of challenges, tests, torments. Still, trying hard to make his hand simply and calmly pick up one of the cookies and not snatch one and draw his arm back quickly, he took her up on her offer. The cookie was still hot and practically fell into gooey puddles when he picked it up. She watched him closely and he wondered if maybe there was something else he was supposed to be doing, but he didn't sense any of her disapproval- Juno always made that perfectly clear. Tentatively, he bit into the thing. It tasted amazing, slightly bitter and very sweet. He'd never eaten anything like it.

Juno laughed, "Don't get choked."

Galen's cheeks flushed red and he wanted to sink into the chair; so much for the dignity of a Jedi, scarfing down food like a starving child.

"I'm guessing you want another one?"

He nodded sheepishly.

"Go ahead."

The need to justify himself was stronger than his fear of looking stupid, "I've never… eaten these before. I'd never even heard of them."

She blinked at him, but took it in stride, like she did all his confessions. A faint hint of that smile tugged at one end of her mouth, "Thank you for listening to me."

"No problem."

"Remember not to choke, okay?"

"I think I can handle that, Captain."

 **Novels:**

"What are you doing?"

"Reading."

"Reading what?"

Juno looked over to the boy in the co-pilot's seat and found him frowning at her, eyes narrowed.

"A holonovel." Since their time in hyperspace wasn't currently life or death, she'd appropriated the time to catch up on one of the books she'd been meaning to read. Now, if the look on his face was anything to go by, she wasn't going to get the chance. He looked at the datapad in her hands like it was a Geonossian pit viper.

"You woke me up."

"How?"

He pointed at her datapad like it explained everything. When she stared him down long enough for him to realise it didn't, he elaborated.

"You were calm when I fell asleep, then suddenly you panicked. I thought we were in trouble."

She hadn't realised she'd been that into the book.

"It was an unexpected plot twist."

His eyes narrowed even further, "What's that mean?"

"It means something happened in the story that I didn't see coming."

Now he just looked confused, "Story?"

Ah, that explained it, "You've never read for fun, have you?"

"Not a story. I didn't know those were written."

"I think you'd like it."

"Okay, I'll try it. What do you do?"

"Well, what kind of things do you want to read about?"

"I read a lot of manuscripts about the ancient Jedi."

Those sounded like real thrillers. Juno took a deep breath, "So maybe something historical?"

"Okay."

Mentally running through her library, she tried to narrow down the options. Galen wasn't going to be one for romance, probably wouldn't care too much for something about violence, would likely throw the idea away if he felt like he wasn't gaining anything from wasting his time.

"What about folktales?"

He cocked his head, "Folktales?"

"Legends from spec-"

"I know what Folktales are. I can try those."

"Alright then, hand me your datapad."

He passed her the device she wanted and took it back, scrolling through the new information on it before settling in to look it over. After a few hours he looked up.

"It's not bad, but I don't think it'll ever be useful."

"You're not a droid, Galen, not everything you do has to be useful."

He appeared to be thinking that over when the alert came on to drop out of hyperspace.

 **Hugs:**

At first he thought it was PROXY's old programming resurfacing, trying to kill him. But there wasn't any kind of further assault and after the pure shock of suddenly being restrained Juno's presence became much clearer through his roaring adreniline, and she didn't mean any harm. He stood still for another few seconds, trying to decipher what exactly she was doing, with her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her head laid against his shoulder blade.

"Juno?"

"Hmm?"

"W-what are you doing?" He did remember her arms around him before, when she'd kissed him, when he'd taken her off the _Empirical_ , when he'd finally gotten her back on the awful platform on Kamino. But those had all had a reason, this was just random. She tightened her grip on him and he went from confused to uncomfortable.

"It's a hug, Galen, it won't kill you. In fact, most people like this kind of thing. Other people don't get it enough."

Something in her voice and in her thoughts said that she was trying to tell him something. He remembered something she'd said about her father… Her father didn't love her. That sparked his anger all over; Juno was brilliant, skilled, beautiful, understanding. What kind of moron would ever try to make her feel worthless?

In a sudden burst of movement, he turned her around and pulled her close. It occurred to him he might have been too rough and scared her, crushing her against him without warning like that. But her presence seemed to glow a little brighter and she settled against his chest with her arms around his waist.

"See?"

It was nice, and he could smell her hair like this. Having her close helped the galaxy make sense.

"Yeah."

"So the next time I do this you won't panic?"

"Only if you don't attack me in the process," Maybe it was a poor attempt at humour, but it was an attempt. And she smiled, so it had to be okay.

"Well, there can be a second step to this hugging thing."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Her hand was on his cheek and her mouth was on his. He leaned down to her and closed his eyes, more than happy to oblige. Maybe he could think of a few reasons people might like hugs.

 **Beauty:**

He hadn't had an interest in the sunsets on all the planets he'd been to and the way that the different proportions of gasses threw off different colours, he hadn't had a name for the way the crystals in a lightsaber glowed with their own light, he didn't care about the vastness of space, dotted with stars. Not until he noticed that there was something about her, something that he didn't have a name for, some quality she possessed that was unlike anyone else he had seen. It had something to do with her eyes and how icy blue they were, how the look in them was sharp and keen. Or it had something to do with her hair, the way strands of it fell in her face when she worked, how its colour was exactly like a frozen star's. It was the way she moved, purposeful and gracefully, and the way she'd soften sometimes.

In the end he had to ask PROXY what exactly it was, that impression she gave of somehow being better, more special, than anything else.

"I believe, Master, that the word you are seeking is 'beautiful'."

So he called her beautiful one day, just dropped the word into the conversation they were having about liberating a ship of Wookie slaves. Her expression had said that she'd been caught by surprise, but she'd thanked him.

"No, you're really beautiful. I mean it."

She smiled at him again and went back to working. He felt like he wasn't being understood, a feeling he was more than familiar with; he'd only needed to know how to talk to PROXY and his master, not associate and communicate with hundreds of kinds of beings. But he had to try to tell her, plow through an explanation like he was taught to plow through everything else. In the end it was worth it to feel the colours of her emotions kaleidoscope in the Force: pride, appreciation, love, surprise, a dozen more things in beautiful shades and hues.

"Is that really how you see me?"

"Well, there's the Force too."

"What's that like?"

He gently brushed her mind with his and when she didn't recoil, he let his thoughts bleed into hers- which wasn't easy, but was completely worth it- and showed her what she felt like to him.

 **Dress Clothes:**

"No."

"I'm not asking."

"And I'm not wearing it."

"You're acting like a child, boy. You're disgracing the Jedi."

"Look who's talking."

He knew he probably was being immature, but he absolutely refused to wear the clothes laid out on his bunk. He didn't care if it was a banquet, didn't care if they were trying to recruit more officials to their cause. There was a reason behind every single piece of clothing he wore and every one of them was practical. Primping didn't suit him. The Senators had seen him in worse things than what he had on.

Kota smacked him in the back of the head and earned himself a deadly glare, "If you look bad it gives a bad impression to everyone. We want this Rebellion to be official, not look like a ragtag band of mercenaries."

"I look fine in what I'm wearing."

"Who told you that? PROXY? Boy, I'm blind and I know you look like bantha poodoo right now."

"I can call it Jedi humility. You look worse than I do, old man."

Glowering, Galen crossed his arms and burrowed deeper into the co-pilot's chair, looking at the toes of his best boots; they weren't falling apart and had no visible blood on them. The former Jedi master growled at him and they were just about ready to start arguing again when he sensed Juno coming.

He may or may not have gaped when she walked in. Of course he thought she looked good in whatever she was wearing, but now, in the simple black dress that ended in the front right below her knees and swept down to the floor in the back, with her platinum blonde hair rolling down in waves to touch her shoulders,, she looked better. She looked stunning. It was the only word he could think of; it was the only word he could think at all.

"Why aren't you ready?"

He wasn't really certain that he could speak yet. Kota chuckled.

"Loverboy here refuses to dress up."

She nodded and turned to face him and Galen willed his irritable expression back on his face.

"Please? You'd look so nice in it." She knelt down to be face-to-face with him and he noticed that she smelled different than usual, like tropical fruit.

There was something just out of reach about her words that he learned long ago to call deception, but somehow her words were also true; they meant what they were supposed to, and she did think he'd look nice, but there was more to it than that. It was puzzling. Kota barked a laugh again.

"Please, Galen?"

"If you don't go, boy, she'll have to find another date."

That only made him angrier, but Juno put her hand on his in a way that spoke of her loyalty. It didn't exactly make him more eager to keep refusing, though.

"But you will go, right?" She looked so disappointed. He couldn't say no. With a sigh, he got up and stalked back to the bunkroom to change.

Juno crossed her arms and grinned. The impressively sober Jedi snorted.

"I swear it was a woman who first thought of the mind trick."

"We're going to call it friendly persuasion."

"If that's what you do to your friends…"

She flashed him a beautifully white smile, "You should see what I do to the people who aren't."

"Poor boy's never gonna have his head on straight. Look after him at this thing, will you?"

"Don't worry." Her voice was softer, "I'm not going to let anything happen to him."

"What are you guys talking about?" Galen came back tugging at the hem of his tunic, frowning at it almost as much as he had the Jedi robes Kota had once told him to wear. They'd gone missing mysteriously at the end of the day. These would probably have a similar fate.

"Oh." She wanted to kick herself and wanted even more to stop staring.

"What? Is it on wrong?" He pulled in vain at his collar, trying to get it off his neck.

"No. You look…"

They both turned a little red and he cleared his throat. Kota snorted.

"Does he still look like an anemic refugee?"

"Don't listen to him; he has no idea what you look like."

He didn't look terribly reassured as she looped her arm around his, so she kissed his cheek, "You look handsome."

 **Gentleness:**

He knew she wasn't fragile. He'd seen her in action, he knew she was capable and skilled; there was a reason she'd gotten in the Academy so early. But he couldn't stop himself from touching her lightly, holding her softly, being very careful, like she was porcelain. He handled her the same way he handled the finely-tuned components of his lightsaber, like the small holoprojector units for PROXY's systems. She was important, he eventually decided, what he did meant she was vital.

There hadn't been much in his life to be tender to until now. It worried him constantly how _breakable_ things were. When he'd been destroying things it hadn't mattered if they were strong or not. Now that he was building them, though… Some nights he'd wake up screaming, seeing things shattered: PROXY's melted body on the snow, Juno crumpled on the white platform in the rain, Kota writhing under the Emperor's attacks, everything he'd given his lives to put together burning like a forest.

Sometimes Juno heard him screaming and came and sat down next to him, pulling his head onto her shoulder, holding his hand. He wasn't sure if it scared him or not. All he knew for sure was that he could sense her there, hear her breathing. That was what was important. That was what was real, not the things he saw in his sleep.

The way she said his name when she told him that everything was alright was so soft.

 **Patience:**

Galen Marek was never a patient man. He hated waiting. He doesn't like waiting now, but he's more than willing to do it. He could wait years right now, so long as the ending was the same. In this exact spot, he could stand until stars fell down as long as it was with her. She was always careful and precise, so he isn't surprised she's taking so long. Still, he can't deny the way his heart does flips when those doors open.

People, Alliance soldiers, generals, and the Senators, all stood, but he couldn't care less who was there or what they thought. She was so perfect. Perfect, amazing, wonderful… He couldn't describe her, coming towards him like an angel. He isn't sure he wants to, for fear it might spoil the moment.

For the first time in his life, he's patient. He can listen to Kota drone on for ages, holding her hands and watching change her mind between looking down and looking at him. He can wait forever standing here with her.

Until she says "I do," until he says it back.

Then he doesn't wait one second to kiss her.

* * *

 _ **A/N: It's so fluffy! Ugh. Dress Clothes was a blast to write, what with Galen and Kota's spat. His POV is great in general: so rough and edgy, but also very curious and almost innocent. The ending was fun too. What's the fluffiest thing? A baby, but these two have way too much to take care of first. Second fluffiest is a wedding kiss. This is all of it, unless a wave of new ideas strike. :/**_


End file.
